


Scratch That Itch

by AndreaLyn



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21935140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreaLyn/pseuds/AndreaLyn
Summary: When Cameron loses her scratching post, Liz goes out of her way to make sure that she gets a new one.
Relationships: Jenna Cameron/Kyle Valenti, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17





	Scratch That Itch

**Author's Note:**

> This goes canon divergent within 1x10! Written for faithtrustaliendust on Tumblr, and hopefully, this can sate some holiday needs!

Liz spends days feeling like she’s floating on a cloud after kissing Max in the desert. The warmth blooms and blossoms in her chest and she knows she’s wandering around Roswell like a girl in love for the first time, but she can’t help feeling like she’s teetering on the edge of a cliff, which makes her feel elated and beyond giddy.

It also keeps her distracted, which is why Maria has to even point out _the issue_ , when Liz hadn’t even been aware. 

“I can’t believe she keeps glaring at you like that,” Maria says, polishing one of the glasses as she nods over Liz’s shoulder. Liz, who’s been in the middle of a text thread with Max about the upcoming gala at the UFO Emporium, drags herself from her distracted (and probably rude) state to stare at Maria.

She’s not following, and the confusion on her face must show.

Maria laughs and nods to the back of the Wild Pony. “Cameron,” she clarifies. “I think she’s pissed because you took her scratching post away,” she jokes. 

Liz knows about the arrangement between Max and Jenna. It’s not something that she really wants to think about, because that would mean thinking about Max with another woman and it evokes a lot more jealousy than she knows how to deal with. Still, it’s hard to ignore when Maria’s noticing, and that means other people in town probably also see what’s going on.

She’s not the only one who’s been a little off these days when it comes to a casual benefits relationship coming to an end. Liz has been dealing with that with Kyle, too. 

True, Liz could write off Kyle’s distraction as the alien investigations they’ve all been working on, and the fire at the lab had stressed both of them out, but she has to imagine that her and Max getting together hasn’t been a fun day at the park for him, either. Liz tries to tuck away that guilt, but an idea swiftly hits her on the heels of that thought.

Why feel guilty when she can do something about it?

Liz turns back around to face Maria and something starts to percolate in her mind. 

“Oh, no,” Maria says, shaking her head at Liz, putting the bar towel down and leaning forward. “I know that face,” she warns. “That’s your face when you think you have a great idea.” Liz knows that she’s got Maria on the hook, because there’s still a degree of suspicion in her voice, but hiding behind that is intrigue. It’s why they’re such good friends. Liz knows that she can drag Maria into these things by dangling a good idea (or maybe a bad idea that’s tempting) in front of her. “Okay, fine, at least let me hear it.”

“With me and Max getting together, that leaves Jenna without someone to … scratch,” Liz finishes awkwardly, wishing she had a better word. “My arrangement with Kyle is over now too.” 

The idea is clearly dawning on Maria given the look on her face.

“You want to set them up with each other,” she clarifies. “Because they have a shared common bond of being dumped by their casual sex arrangement partner?” 

Liz remains determined that it’s a better idea than Maria is giving credit for. She knows, deep down, that while she and Max had seen those relationships as casual, she knows that both Kyle and Jenna had been slightly more invested. It speaks to a willingness to do something like fall for another person.

Maybe she’s not going to be setting them up to have a storied romance, but it’s better than nothing. If nothing else, she wants to give Kyle someone to be with, and she wants to somehow soften the blow of Jenna losing Max. 

It’s not _guilt_ , she tells herself (even though she’s lying). It’s just polite to care about your friends.

“I won’t be able to talk you out of this, will I?” Maria says, because even though Liz hasn’t said a word, the stubborn expression on her face probably speaks leagues. “You do know this could blow up in your face,” she says, and while Liz acknowledges that Maria is being completely logical about it, she’s made up her mind.

“Maybe they’ll both be so relieved to have something that they won’t just sit around complaining about me and Max?”

She’s assuming they do that now. 

After all, Michael makes really immature faces when they’re working together, and he’s sort of the low end of her barometer of maturity, so she figures Jenna and Kyle are probably right around the middle, with Maria at the top end of being supportive. Though, she made faces too if Liz made one too many comments talking about her relationship with Max, so she could see how she and Michael were getting along so well these days.

“It’s a good idea,” she insists again, like if she keeps saying that, everyone will concede to the fact that she doesn’t just have three degrees, but that she can be a secret relationship genius.

From the way Maria lifts her brow dubiously, she’s clearly not on the same page, but she says, “Okay,” in that tone that says she’s at Liz’s side and ready to go along with the plan. 

Liz beams as she leans over the bar to squeeze Maria’s forearm. “I love that you’re my ride or die bitch,” she praises with a happy smile as Maria gets out the tequila. Liz is sure that it’s to clear her mind and make her rethink the plan.

Instead, Liz plans to see it as a celebration. She just needs to get things into place, and all will be well again with romance in Roswell.

* * *

Jenna feels weird not putting all her time and energy into the investigation to find a rogue alien, but Liz’s text had seemed fairly urgent. How’s she supposed to ignore an ASAP to the Wild Pony, especially when some of the suspects that she’s been looking into had a tendency to linger around there during Ranchero Nights?

Still, when Jenna shows up and Liz isn’t there, her patience is _absolutely_ being tested.

She’s really trying not to feel bitter towards the other woman. For all that she insists that things between her and Max had been casual, she knows that she’d felt something deeper that she’d never wanted to acknowledge, but Max has been in love with Liz Ortecho since he first breathed, “Hello,” to Jenna all those years ago.

Jenna’s not the first choice, but she also hadn’t been the first one to come along, so as much as it stings, she can understand it. And yet, she’s as human as she’s ever been, which is why she’s _angry_ and most days it switches between Max and Liz. Being led to a dead end when she’s got better things to do means that it’s going right back to Liz.

She’s about to turn and leave, but she hears her name being called from the back of the bar.

Jenna turns to find Kyle Valenti sitting there with a drink, giving her a puzzled look. “Where’s Manes?” she asks, approaching so she doesn’t have to end up shouting across the bar. “Is this another secret clubhouse meeting?”

“Actually…” Kyle says, and holds out his phone so Jenna can see a text from Liz.

_ASAP! Wild Pony! Need you there, stat!_

It’s, word for word, the exact same message that Jenna has on her phone from Liz. She presses her lips together thinly, not sure what the hell is going on. What she does know is that the bottle of beer in front of Kyle looks really appealing right now. She can also spare a few moments, she thinks, and that’s why she sits on the other side of the booth.

“Do you think it’s on purpose?” she asks.

“What?”

“Us, together, her pushing us here. Does she want us to have a mini therapy group, now that she and Evans are together?” It’s the only thing Jenna can think of. 

Kyle presses his lips together firmly. “I know Liz,” he says. “She wouldn’t lure us here and then not be here unless she’s trying to do something.” From the puzzled look on his face, he clearly isn’t sure what that is, but it’s enough that Jenna settles in and orders another round for the both of them. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why? You don’t want to get drunk and complain about the fact that we both just got dumped?” Jenna complains, more than ready to call the situation for what it is. Max might have done the dumping a while before this and Liz might never have been _on_ with Kyle, but that’s what happened.

They’re both jilted lovers.

The fact that she just thought that phrase almost makes her angrier than she’s been feeling at Jesse Manes these last few weeks. From the look on Kyle’s face, he’s reticent about getting drunk, but he’s also not about to shut her down.

“Fine,” he grumbles. 

When Maria drops by to take their drink order, she eyes them both with a raise of her brows, half like she can’t believe what she’s seeing, which Jenna understands. Honestly, she’s still a little wary about what they’re doing. Does she really want to sit here the whole time and bitch and complain because she lost her friend with benefits?

It’s not like she’d deluded herself into expecting more, but that also hadn’t stopped her from falling for the incredible partner she had beside her. 

She’s sure Kyle can relate.

It only takes two bottles of beer before he starts doing it audibly. “I know we weren’t _dating_ ,” Kyle insists, like he wants to make sure Jenna knows that. “I know she was using me, my body, my tongue, my anatomical knowledge.” Jenna makes a face, because for a while he’d been going strong, and then…that. Though, it does leave her wondering what medical school taught him. “She’s always had a thing for Evans, though, I should have known.”

“Since when does knowing stop anyone?” Jenna replies, half amused by the fact that Kyle’s opening up so easily with only a few drinks in him. 

Should she be recording this for Alex? She feels like she should be, but she’s got issues of her own that he could use against her. Kyle got a late start to this little pity-fest, because Liz had summoned her here first, and she’s been drinking since before he joined her. 

It means there are things she’s considering that she’s only had as fleeting thoughts before. 

“I shouldn’t drink too much more,” Jenna says, even though she’s not thinking about alcohol right now. She’s staring at Kyle over the table and wondering whether he’d push back against her the way he’d argued with her in the bunker. Maybe it’s the beer talking or maybe it’s the bad ideas, but she suddenly wants to find out.

Whatever Liz thinks she’s doing, Jenna isn’t about to let her have control of what she does tonight. 

“Same,” Kyle admits, and pushes the beer away, but his gaze slides over her body and Jenna thinks they’re stopping at just the right time for things to still be interesting. She decides in that moment that if they’re both up for it, then there’s no reason they shouldn’t be adults about the opportunity in front of them.

The only thing that’s stopping her, even remotely, is the knowledge in the back of her mind that this is exactly what Ortecho wants.

_Whatever_ , she decides, because she’s seen Kyle’s abs when he reaches for things on the top shelf in the bunker. She knows what he’s hiding beneath. 

Licking her lips, Jenna stands and nods for the door. “Come on. Let’s get out of here,” she says, and decides that she doesn’t want to passively sit there and complain about her lot in life. She’s moving towards the door and while she doesn’t look back, she does hear the sound of Kyle’s shoes on the Pony’s creaky steps following her.

He’s curious enough to know what’s going to happen next if he follows, which is good. 

It’s better than good, because she’s starting to feel _itchy_ , wanting someone with the right scratch to help her out. 

On the way out, Jenna catches sight of Max and Liz in the corner of her eye. They’re clearly trying to be sneaky by keeping out of their line of sight, but she clocks them. How could she not? Max is practically on the edge of his seat, probably wanting to rush over and apologize.

It makes her tighten her grip on Kyle’s shirt and yank him along. 

Maybe her usual scratching post is gone, but she’s getting some better ideas about the new one. “Come on,” she insists, doubling down on the fact that Liz might have set this up, but it’s not the absolute worst idea in the world. “I think I know why Liz wanted us to have a drink.”

“Wait…I…” It’s actually unfair that he’s adorable when he’s a clueless asshole. He might have questioned her abilities before, but she has no intention of repeating history tonight. “…you’re saying…?”

“Either your pants come off in the back seat of my car or your mouth’s going between my legs in the bed of a truck,” she offers casually. “Whatever we’re doing, I demand at least two orgasms and a shot of tequila to round off the night.”

She eyes Kyle, issuing him a challenge with no more than a flick upwards of her brow.

“You in?”

He breathes out, a touch shakily, but Jenna can tell she’s snared him by the way he slides in towards her, pressing a hand to the small of her back. “How about we negotiate that up to three and a bourbon,” he suggests, voice as smoky as the bottle he’s probably got sitting on his shelf that he’s so eager to show off.

Lucky for Jenna, she’s absolutely good with a little negotiation.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

How things got so complicated so quickly, Jenna doesn’t know, but she’s longing for those drinks at the Pony and even research in the bunker. 

Instead, she’s still getting used to it, but the lack of weight on her hip makes her feel lost. She’s been a deputy since she finished with her tours and it’s become a part of her, as much as wearing the white hat, but now she’s had to give up her gun and her badge. She’s had to say goodbye to Evans, and she should leave town, but she feels like she’s not done yet.

There’s one other person that she wants to see before she goes, even though she’s not sure why. Maybe it’s that they’ve been bonding since that first drink in the Pony, or maybe because of all people in Roswell, he’s the closest that anyone might come to understanding her. Jenna sits in her car for a long time before she texts Kyle and asks him to meet her at the drive-in.

It’ll be empty, since nothing is being aired tonight, which means Jenna can sit on a picnic table and wait for him.

Kyle texts back that he’ll be there, which is almost unexpected, but what Jenna truly isn’t expecting is how much of a wreck he is when he shows up. “What the hell happened?” she demands, reaching for his face where she sees cuts and scrapes.

“Caulfield,” Kyle replies darkly, his shoulders sagged forward.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d call it grief.

“What the hell did you find out there?” she asks warily, even though she thinks she probably already knows the answer. She should have insisted that they wait so that she could go with them. Without a badge and a gun, she’s got all the time in the world. She should have made them _wait_. 

Kyle stares at her, wounded and upset and it makes Jenna want to defend him with a fiery determination she hasn’t felt in a while – at least, not since she’d first been separated from Charlie. “I found out that there are monsters in Roswell. I found out that one of them killed my father, and that he’s walking around giving orders to try and kill more people.” Jenna has a sinking feeling in her stomach. “I think that you and I just found out we have the same monster haunting us over our shoulders. He took my father, he’s using your sister,” Kyle spits out. “I think maybe I’m the monster or we are, and I don’t know anymore!”

She doesn’t know what to do with him when he’s this distraught, because she feels like she barely knows him, but she knows what she’d want.

“Hey,” she says, voice steely and sharp as she crosses the distance between them to grab hold of his hand, pressing it over his own heart. “Deep down, in here, you know what you are. You know that you’re a good guy. Maybe a little bit of a dick, but you _try_ and that’s better than a lot of the douchebags that I’ve run into. The fact that you’re thinking about this at all is a good sign.”

He’s nodding, but Jenna’s still not sure that he actually believes it yet. 

“What happened?” she asks again, hoping to get a straight answer.

“We found aliens. Guerin’s family,” Kyle says quietly. “I found out that my father was killed by one of them, after he’d been torturing them for years and I don’t know how to feel about any of this.” He’s so still, so numb, and so emotionless that Jenna feels like she needs to rage in his place. “There were people still there, today. At least, there were.”

She’s beginning to get a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“Were?” she echoes.

“Guerin triggered a failsafe. The whole place went up in flames, with all the aliens inside it.”

Jenna’s eyes widen with horror. She’d imagined that there would be files or military information about these sorts of crimes in the past. Even knowing the kind of monster that Jesse Manes is, she never would have imagined _this_ , but she’s starting to suspect that she hasn’t begun to scratch the surface on what that man is capable of. 

It must be hell being his son, she thinks, glad in that moment that she’s not Alex Manes.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Kyle says, his tone devoid of emotion. There’s nothing in it, and Jenna stares at him, still pressed near him, watching for that moment to pass.

When it doesn’t, she knows she needs to do something.

“You’re not Jesse Manes’ ally,” she tells him fiercely, because he needs something to pierce through the doubts in his mind. “You’re _ours_. Alex will make sure you don’t fuck up, because he’s not his father. And you’re not yours,” she says, because family is one thing, but they’re not your destiny and they don’t set your path.

They’re just the people who brought you into this world. What happens beyond that isn’t up to them. 

“I’m not,” Kyle echoes, half a question.

“You’re really not.” 

That seems to do the trick. There’s a glimmer of something that reflects in Kyle’s eyes, then in the way his shoulders relax. It’s like all that nothing is bleeding out of him. Once that numbness seems to drain out of him, Kyle’s back. 

It's like he’s found hope again, or something close to it. Jenna grins at him, feeling like she deserves a pat on the back for bringing him around. “There he is,” she praises. 

“It’s this place,” Kyle swears, his voice low and riddled with a roughness that she gets. If you could bottle that up and put it out in the world, you’d make everyone miserable, but Roswell has a way of getting to you, making you feel that low. 

Maybe what Kyle needs is exactly what Jenna’s seeking. 

It’s stupid, she knows, but she feels like she needs to at least make the offer. “I’m leaving town. I’m going to see if I can figure out a way to get Charlie out, so he can’t use me anymore.” And then, she’d been planning to come back and wreak blood-soaked revenge against the man who’d tried to manipulate her using her sister. “I think you should come with me.”

Maybe Kyle needs to get away from Roswell’s shadow, too.

It’s still surprising when Kyle says, “Maybe you’re right.” 

Okay, then.

It’s not what she’d been expecting, but at the same time, Jenna thinks that she’s ready to do this. She’s not sure what they’re going to do out there, but there’s something that makes her beyond relieved to know that she’s not going out there to do this on her own. Past that, she’s also happy that it’s with Kyle. 

It turns out, he’s not so bad at all. Maybe she can start to see what Liz sees in him.

“Pack your bag. We’re out of Roswell by midnight,” Jenna says, quickly trying to come to grips with this new version of her plan. “They can fight this battle without us for a while, give us a chance to recharge, figure this out, even up the sides.”

Maybe even figure _themselves_ out, too. 

“Yeah,” Kyle agrees, and he sounds surprised, like even he’s shocked at what he’s going to do. 

He slides his palm over Jenna’s, still resting on his chest. They twine their fingers together and for a moment, Kyle holds on. She closes her eyes, feeling that security, that safety, that warmth, and thinks about how no one’s given her that since Charlie. She slides her thumb up and down the edge of Kyle’s palm and closes her eyes for the briefest of moments to take in the sea-change in the air.

When she opens her eyes, Kyle’s expression has shifted to steely determination. “Let’s get the hell out of this town.”

She can’t agree with that sentiment more. “I’ll get my bags, you bring the tequila.”

* * *

Liz hears her phone go off, rousing her from her sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she shifts (Max’s jacket still on her from falling asleep on his couch). She’s expecting a check-in from Michael that says he’s on his way. Maybe Maria, checking in.

What she’s not expecting is a text from Kyle.

_Don’t think you have a career in meddling, but I’m getting out of town for a while. Yes, at the same time as Jenna. Yes, together. No, not sure what it is yet._

Liz smiles fondly, both for Kyle’s ridiculous tendency to be too formal when he texts, but also because in all the mess that’s surrounding them, at least she knows that some of her friends are going to be okay. She glances up to see Max standing in the doorway to the bedroom, looking ragged and messy.

Maybe she’s going to be okay too.

“Come here,” she encourages, and makes some space beside her. “No one should be alone right now.” 

She feels her body melt into the warmth of Max’s when he settles in behind her. Whatever temperature the aliens run, it’s utterly and completely perfect, but maybe that’s just because he’s perfect to her – faults, flaws, good traits, bad ones and all.

“Go to sleep. I’ve got you,” Max soothes.

Liz lets out a pleased murmur and lets it happen. When she dreams, it’s not of the tumultuous tomorrow, but instead of a future where she wakes up with Max in a warm bed, with coffee brewing, and no one trying to kill anyone else. Maybe if they’re lucky, somewhere out there on the road, Kyle and Jenna will get to have that too. 

For now, it’s the best she can do -- _hope_ , but she has to think it’ll be enough.


End file.
